Corn or cotton thinner



' (No Model.)

G; L. WEBB. 001m 0R COTTON THINNER.

Patented June 3, 1890.

fiveni'or: aeoryeflwpszey 715256. By hwa '-orm as (:04, Puma-1.1mm, WASHINGYDN w c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE LAPSLEY IVEBB, OF STEIVART, KENTUCKY.

CORN OR COTTON THlNNER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,328, dated June 3, 1890.

Application filed March 28, I890. Serial No. 345,638. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE LAPSLEY WEBB, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Stewart, in the county of Mercer, Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Corn and Cotton Thinners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to hand implements for pulling out surplus stalks in cultivating corn or cotton; and it consists in certain novel combinations of parts embodied in an improved corn and cotton thinner, as hereinafter set forth and claimed. v

The objects of the invention are, first, to provide for separating a pair of claws at the lower extremity of the implementby the downward movement of the hands in the act of lowering it and to close the claws upon the stalks by the upward pulling movement'of the hands in anatural and easy manner, and, secondly, to insure pulling the tender stalks without mutilating them, so as to prevent leaving the roots in the ground.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this specification as part thereof.

Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings are edge views of my improved corn and cotton thinner, showing it respectively opened and closed; and Fig. 3 is a side view of the closed two fulcrumieces F F and a sto iece S] which are mortised into it, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the fulcrum-pieces being also pinned fast. The upright B, toward and into which said stop and fulcrum pieces project, has a hinge-joint J at mid-length and beveled mortises at mid-length of its respective parts, the latter crossed by pivots P P, by which said parts are attached to matching tenon's on the fulcrums F F and thereby to the upright A.

The claws O 0 each have several prongs,

which coincide with each other and touch at their sharp points when closed, as shown in Fig. 2. The prongs of the claw 0 may preferably be more curved than those of the claw O, as shown, so as to facilitate their penetration of the stalks. Both claws may be attached to the uprights by screws, as represented in Fig. 2, or by rivets or bolts.

The thinner is opened and applied by one and the same downward movement of the hands, as illustrated by Fig. 1 and the arrow a, and it is closed and lifted by a single and simple upward movement of the hands, as illustrated by Fig. 2 and the arrow Z). One or more pairs of the sharp prongs of the claws O G bite into the tender stalk that is to be pulled, and the stop S limits their penetration, and thus prevents mutilating the stalk and leaving the root in the ground.

Details of construction which have not been specified may be of any approved description, and I do not limit my respective claims as to mechanical details except as therein expressly stated.

Having thus described the said implement, I claim as my invention and desire to patent under this specification- 1. The combination, in a corn and cotton thinner adapted to be operated by the hands, of a pair of uprights provided at their respective extremities with suitable claws and with laterally-proj ectin g rigid handles, one of said uprights being continuous andprovided with fulcrums, while the other upright has a hinge-joint at mid-length, and its respective parts are pivoted to the adjoining ends of said fulcrums, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

2. The upright A, provided with the claw C, fulcrum-pieces]? F stop S, and handle H,

in combination with the upright B, having the hinge-joint J at mid-length and pivoted to said fulcrum-pieces, and provided with the claw (J and handle H said claws having sharp-pointed curved prongs, those of one claw touching at their points those of the other when the claws are closed, and said stop operating to limit the closing movement, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

GEORGE LAPSLEY WEBB. Witnesses: I NEWT. PRATHER, SAMUEL LYoNs. 

